As planned in the project proposal, a training school was held in the Castle of Gaeta, Italy, June 17-20, 2024.

15 students participated in the school, coming from the 4 countries which are partners of the project:

• 2 from the University of Sannio, Italy
• 3 from the University of Cassino and Southern Lazio, Italy
• 3 from the Riga Technical University, Latvia,
• 3 from the University of Zilina, Slovakia,
• 2 from the State University of Moldova, Moldova
• 2 from the ”Alexandru cel Bun” Military Academy of the Armed Forces of the Republic of Moldova, Moldova

In addition to the students, we got the participation of 14 teachers and 2 participants from the end-user companies Pride Systems and DANAERO, for a total number of 34 participants.

It is worth noting the participation of 1 teacher and 2 students from the Military Academy of the Armed Forces of the Republic of Moldova, which is an End-User of the project.

At the opening session of the school, we got the participation of

• Prof. Marco Dell’Isola, Rector of the University of Cassino and Southern Lazio, 
• Dr Cristian Leccese, Major of Gaeta, 
• Dr. Daniele Pinto, Commander of the Pol Nato Depot of Gaeta
• Dr. P. Joseph Maddock, Community Liaison Specialist and Protocol Officer of the Pol Nato Depot of Gaeta
• Commander Biagio Mauro Sciarra, from Port Authority and Coast Guard of Gaeta

Lectures have been concentrated on the first two days, Monday 17th and Tuesday 18th, and at the beginning of Wednesday 19th. In particular, in the morning of Monday 17th, we had a general session with the following speakers:

• Prof. Antonino Iannuzzo, from University of Sannio,
• Gen. Giovanni Savoldelli-Pedrocchi, from Digisky, and
• Dr. Claudio Palestini from NATO SPS.

The next sessions of the first two days have been assigned to specific sessions led by each partner.

The presenters were:

• Prof. Francesco Picariello, University of Sannio, Italy
• Prof. Ioan Tudosa, University of Sannio, Italy
• Prof. Maksims Feofilovs, Riga Technical University, Latvia
• Prof. Erika Ottaviano, University of Cassino and Southern Lazio,
• Prof. Zdenek Dvorak, University of Zilina, Slovakia
• Prof. Lucia Figuli, University of Zilina, Slovakia
• Prof. Juraj Machaj, University of Zilina, Slovakia
• Dr. Anton Danici, DANAERO, Moldova

On the afternoon of Tuesday 18th, a technical visit to the Italian Air Force Academy in Pozzuoli was organized, where it was possible to learn about the training facilities of the Academy.

On Wednesday 19th, after the last lecture of Dr. Danici, a hackathon among the participating students was launched. In particular, students were randomly divided into three groups, picking students of different nationalities and they were instructed to work on a project idea about the resilience of critical infrastructure, exploiting the major themes of the APRIORI project.

They worked the whole day, and on Thursday 20th morning, each group presented its project.

A commission was set composed by:

• Prof. Peter Brida, University of Zilina, Slovakia,
• Prof. Michela Monaco, University of Sannio, Italy,
• Prof. Maksims Feofilovs, Riga Technical University, Latvia
• Dr. Anton Danici, DANAERO, Moldova

The commission evaluated the projects, also asking clarifications from the students of the group whose project got the best evaluation were awarded with a certificate.

The school was a good opportunity to share the knowledge of the different partners with the young researchers and to foster the cooperation of the young researchers of the partner institutions.

The idea of concentrating all training activities into a training school was successful, as it allowed to maximize the impact. 

In particular, a good engagement of both lecturers and students was observed.